A Picture’s Worth, In Real Estate, Tens of Thousands of Dollars

How can anyone in today’s world of real estate not focus and put a priority on the quality of photos they use to market the property they are trying to sell or rent? I’ll admit – I don’t understand it. We’ve all heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” But that’s never been more true than it is today as the real estate industry continues its transition into the digital world. Selling or buying a Walnut Creek home is definitely no exception.
Don’t believe me of the importance of quality photos in today’s market? Listen to Barbara Corcoran, a real estate mogul from Manhattan, as she describes “waging war online” during an interview on the Today Show:
Yet, every single day that I spend time looking at homes online, I come across photos so bad that I can’t help but laugh. Immediately afterwards, though, I always feel sorry for the person or family that is trying to sell that property. The owner deserves better. Unknowingly, they’ve just made their task more difficult. How many buyers are searching for a home in that price range but never ask their agent to see it because the photos don’t compare to the 10 other houses that also showed up?
It’s difficult for many of us to envision something differently from how it currently looks:

Your kitchen is painted bright orange … how many buyers will be instantly turned off by that as compared to how many will think, “I really like the layout of this kitchen and, thankfully, paint is cheap”? 5 to 1? 10 to 1? 25 to 1?

Family photos are hanging everywhere – in the bedrooms, the hallways and throughout the family room … how many buyers are capable of doing anything other than picturing this house as YOUR home rather than their next home? All they see is your family…

This thought process occurs for a buyer regardless of whether they are physically in a house or simply looking at photos of it online. And it’s because of this that you need to make sure you go above and beyond with your photos. Just to give you an idea of how bad some photos are, here’s a sampling that I pulled today (Mar 10, 2011):

Your Curb Appeal Looks, Well, Blurry!

Too Dark To Tell, But Is That A Vodka Bottle?

Too Busy To Make The Bed

Taken From The Car

These range from Livermore to Concord and span the price spectrum – $175k on the low end and topping out at $1.5M. I’m willing to bet that I could have done a better job with the camera on my phone. Just sayin…
Well, here at SPARRproperties, we like to do things a little differently … we like to do it the right way (and having a professional photographer as part of our team helps with that). It starts with having the right equipment … extends into knowing how to properly use that equipment … and then is finished off with a digital touch-up that leaves each photograph popping with a sharpness and color that looks as good as the real thing. HDR, exposure blending, wide angle, color curves … these aren’t typical things you hear from a real estate agent, but happen to be common lingo for our team. As a home owner looking to sell, you deserve better than the status quo. That’s part of the reason we are so successful at waging war online!
Check out how our focus on great property photographs plays into our overall marketing plan for selling your Walnut Creek home. Or, if you’ve already read that and want to find out first-hand what we’re all about, let’s talk – 925.817.8428 or brian@SPARRproperties.com.

Why Work With the SPARRproperties Group?

We easily went through 12 agents before running into Brian. Brian immediately stood out from the pack – he is extremely knowledgeable, smart, and real estate is his passion – which is an important distinction and an absolute necessity for a great agent.[Read Arek's entire feedback >>]

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I do not think I have worked with anyone in ANY business that demonstrates the kind of dedication, integrity and diligence of Brian Sparr. I would never again work with another realtor and would recommend Brian Sparr to anyone without hesitation.[Read Dennis' entire feedback >>]